Women's Studies
by PinPin13
Summary: <html><head></head>An unsolicited tutorial.   One-Shot.</html>


Disclaimer– I do not own the characters, etc. I am only borrowing them from Janet. This is not for profit, just for kicks.

Sally & Lisa's Back-to-School Challenge - BabeSquad Aug. 2010  
><strong><br>****Women's Studies  
><strong>By PinPin

"Mom, do we have to do this right now?" The kitchen was warm with the familiar smells of baking bread and fresh herbs from the garden. There were large pots set up on the stove top and a collection of bowls, knives, spoons, and various culinary contraptions laid out on the kitchen table.

"Yes." Her mother handed her a knife and a tomato.

"I have chores to do," she tried to use as an excuse.

Her mother didn't even look up from the bowl where she was expertly cracking and separating eggs. "They can wait. You're father will understand."

"I need to study," she tried again.

"Those pieces are too large. You need to watch what you're doing," she said pointing to the tomatoes her daughter was absentmindedly mutilating. "You're a very smart girl. You can spare some time for this."

"I have an exam." She knew she was starting to sound desperate. That's because she was.

"These are an important part of the life lessons every mother hands down to her daughter. It is all about landing a good man. Believe me dear, feed him well and he won't care about your marks in school."

She turned away to hide her award worthy eye roll. "I'm only sixteen."

"And if you haven't started thinking about men yet, you're already falling behind."

"Ugh." There was no way she was about to have a discussion with her mother about her thoughts on men, which ones she imagined were good, or what she wanted to do with them.

Her mother clucked, "Don't sulk." She pointed at her with the whisk in her hand. "You worry me. You really do."

"I have plenty of time to learn to cook. Please, can this wait? I have plans." Doing anything but cooking with anyone but her mother. She didn't want to learn kitchen skills. If she did people would expect her to spend her time in the kitchen. And she was a terrible cook. She really would rather be studying. It wasn't always easy for women to be taken seriously and she had serious plans that involved an entirely different kind of smock. She wasn't interested in chef's knives or cutting boards. She was interested in scalpels and sutures.

Her mother's eyebrows rose suggestively. "Are these plans with a boy?"

"No," she admitted reluctantly.

"Well then, pay attention. When you do set your sights on someone, you'll be able to cook for him."

Apparently, there was no way out of this. The next six long, insufferable hours were spent chopping, peeling, mixing, stirring. She learned the secret to making a perfect sauce, not too thick, not too thin, just the right amounts and combinations of spice. She watched and repeated the best way to roll, form, or press the dough to make her grandmother's pasta recipes. Her mother lectured her about gauging a roast's temperature by touch and the proper way to thicken gravy. It seemed never ending. She looked around them at all the food her mother had prepared or that she had ruined. "Mom, I don't think this constitutes a properly balanced meal."

"I know you love your books dear, but the best men aren't going to want to read with you." She winked, making her daughter cringe, "And you need to **be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.** It's better to listen to your mother, especially with things like this." She knew her daughter was intelligent and ambitious. It surprised her that she had yet to make the link that the things she was teaching her today might actually help her prepare for training as a doctor. "You can trust her because you know she has your best interests at heart."

"Mom…" she whined.

"That's enough grumbling, 'Elen," her mother declared. "We're done for today. Go tell your father dinner is ready."

Helen brushed her hands on her apron and hung it back on its hook with a sigh of relief that turned into a groan as she heard her mother finish speaking her thoughts before she could make her escape.

"Next week we'll start baking. I overheard Bella Plum at the beauty parlor say that that handsome nephew of hers, Frank, loves pineapple upside down cake."

(710 words)

**A/N: This is a one-shot short, written in response to a group challenge at Y!BabeSquad. Thank you for reading.**


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